How to appeal your Calgary property assessment
Short answer. Call 311 and ask to speak to the assessor during the free Customer Review Period, which runs for 67 days from the date on your assessment notice; most reductions are agreed there, without a hearing and without the $50 formal-complaint fee.
Start with the free route, not the paid one
Calgary mails residential assessment notices in mid-January, and the date printed on your notice starts a 67-day window called the Customer Review Period. During it you can call 311, ask for the assessor responsible for your property, and put your case directly to them. It costs nothing.
This is where most reductions happen, by agreement, without a hearing. A formal complaint to the Assessment Review Board costs $50 and is the escalation, not the starting point.
What to bring
The argument that carries weight is an equity argument: homes genuinely comparable to yours — same community, similar lot, similar age — are assessed lower than you are. A figure you simply disagree with is not an argument.
- Your roll number and the assessed value from the notice.
- A short list of comparable properties with their assessed values.
- Any factual error in your own property record: recorded lot size, year built, basement development, garage, bathrooms.
Check your own record for errors first
Errors run both ways. If the City's record understates your home, correcting it can raise your assessment. Fix the record because you want it accurate, not as a tactic — and know which direction the correction points before you raise it.
The step-by-step
- Read the date on your notice. The 67-day window runs from it, and the formal deadline is printed on the notice itself.
- Check your property record for factual errors.
- Assemble comparable properties in your own community.
- Call 311 and ask for the assessor. Make the equity argument.
- If that does not resolve it and the deadline has not passed, file a formal complaint with the Assessment Review Board for $50.
What the board can do
The Assessment Review Board can lower your assessment, confirm it, or raise it. That last outcome is uncommon but it is real, and it is the reason this site tells you when you appear to be assessed below your comparables rather than pushing you to file anyway.
Questions
- How much does it cost to appeal a Calgary property assessment?
- Talking to a City assessor during the Customer Review Period is free. A formal complaint to the Assessment Review Board costs $50.
- How long do I have to appeal my Calgary assessment?
- The Customer Review Period runs for 67 days from the date printed on your assessment notice. Calgary mails residential notices in mid-January, so the window typically closes in March. The binding date is the one on your own notice.
- What percentage of Calgary assessment appeals are successful?
- 70% of 2025 matched residential complaints ended in a reduction, across 1,685 records from the Assessment Review Board. That is the rate for people who filed — it is not a prediction about any individual case.
- Can my assessment go up if I appeal?
- Yes. The Assessment Review Board can raise, confirm, or lower an assessment. This is why it is worth knowing whether your home looks under-assessed before you file.
- Do I need a lawyer or an agent to appeal?
- No. Homeowners can make their own case to a City assessor and can file their own complaint with the Assessment Review Board.
Check your own address
The lookup compares your assessed value against genuinely comparable homes in your community — and tells you when the public data cannot settle it.
Last reviewed 2026-09-22. Sources and method: what the complaint records show.